Jim Johnson, in a YouTube coaching segment for contractors, explains how clients recall prior contractor experiences (noting human negativity bias makes negative memories stick). He cautions contractors against competing on price — calling it a "race to the bottom" that sacrifices quality, crews, and products — and promotes differentiating through higher quality and coaching-informed sales approaches.
One of the things we talk about with contractors, whenever we're talking sales and we're talking coaching is this idea of Mr. Jones, have you ever worked with another contractor before? And I'll ask you, you're listening to this right now. Before I answer, what's the first thing that you think people say? Is it positive or is it negative? What do they remember more of? And people are human beings. We are wired to look for the negative. And so whenever we look for that negative, it stands out and it carries on for a long period of time. Now we can all compete on a variety of different things. I get really frustrated watching people compete on price because it's a race to the bottom, who can be the cheapest and who can do it the skinniest. And whenever you do that, you compromise quality, you compromise the crews, you compromise the products. So that's one approach.
